Konfrontasi

On Tuesday, a memorial to the victims of Konfrontasi and those who risked their lives defending the country will be unveiled at Dhoby Ghaut, near the site of the MacDonald House bombing, in which three people were killed and 33 injured. The March 10, 1965, bombing was the worst in a string of attacks by Indonesian saboteurs on Singapore soil during Konfrontasi, which lasted from 1963 to 1966 when Indonesia opposed the formation of Malaysia. Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Syed Ibrahim Almahdali, 72,....

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Indonesia on Sunday (Jan 4) deployed the controversial KRI Usman Harun to aid in the search for the missing AirAsia QZ8501 plane, as it is equipped with advanced underwater sonar capabilities, according to Indonesia's Metro TV and Republika.

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After an incident where Indonesian commandos killed and mutilated the bodies of 9 men from 2SIR in Kota Tinggi, Daljit Singh and other troops were sent from Singapore into Malaysia to flush out these Indonesia commandos. It took Daljit Singh and other brave men three months to hunt down these saboteurs and in total, they killed or captured a total of around 60 Indonesian commandos. Daljit Singh alone was credited for single-handedly killing 6 or 7 enemy combatants during this operation in Kota Tinggi.

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Singapore should never have re-opened this matter. In May 1973, six years after hanging the two men whom we refused to recognise as prisoners of war, Lee Kuan Yew was made to lay flowers at the graves of Harun and Usman. Astute observers would have read this act of contrition as the price Singapore had to pay to normalise relations with Indonesia post-Konfrontasi. By bringing this up again, current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong not only looks thin-skinned, but risks being made to make another trip to visit the graves on his next official visit to Indonesia. The trouble with Singapore is that every time we throw a fit like this, we look terribly immature and petty as a country, and paint ourselves as too self-important by half. Our government does us no favours.

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Singapore will ban the Indonesian warship, named after two marines who carried out a bombing in Orchard Road, from calling at the Republic's ports or naval bases. The Singapore Armed Forces, as "protectors of this nation", will also not sail alongside or undergo training exercises with the new Indonesian navy frigate, the KRI Usman Harun, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, in response to MP Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC).

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Riau Islands Governor Muhammad Sani has told the Batam chapter of the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) to reconsider its plan to build a statue in honour of former Marines Usman and Harun to prevent further friction with Singapore. Mr Sani said that Batam Kadin should bear in mind that Batam is a stone's throw away from Singapore. "What is the benefit for us?" Sani asked.

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The govt missed the opportunity to kick the Indonesian govt in the balls. It could have made the Indon govt look stupid and crass internationally. S’poreans (govt* and all the commentators bar one Voice, see below) are behaving like frogs in a well in their reaction to the Indonesian brazenness over the naming a naval vessel after two “heroes” who killed S’porean civilians in the 1960s.

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In 1990, Iraq stunned the world by invading Kuwait. Enjoying a 5-1 advantage, 100,000 Iraqi troops overran its smaller neighbour in two days. In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, a former Soviet republic. In seven days, superior Russian forces reclaimed South Ossetia and drove deep into the heart of Georgia.